The insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-terminal power semiconductor device used as an electronic switch capable of high efficiency and fast switching. The IGBT combines the simple voltage-gate-drive characteristics of the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) with the superior conduction characteristics, such as high-current and low-saturation-voltage capability, of bipolar transistors. Thus, IGBTs are well-suited for high voltage and/or high current applications. Large IGBT modules may consist of many devices in parallel and can have very high current handling capabilities in the order of hundreds or thousands of amperes with blocking voltages of 6000 V, with a switching frequency of the order of 1 to 40 kHz.
A Hall Effect sensor is a transducer that generates an output signal in response to a magnetic field. Hall Effect sensors may be used for proximity switching, positioning, speed detection, and AC or DC current sensing applications. Electricity carried through a conductor will produce a magnetic field that varies with traversing the conductor, and a Hall sensor can be used to measure the current without interrupting the circuit. In a closed-loop Hall Effect sensor, a current-carrying conductor is placed through an electrically-isolated aperture of a closed-loop magnetic core. The current traversing generates a magnetic field, which the Hall Effect sensor represents as an analogue or digital output signal indicative of the amount of current traversing the conductor.
Hall Effect sensors may be used to measure the current traversing a power transmission wire, such as an output wire of an IGBT. For example, the Hall Effect sensor is positioned downstream from the IGBT, and configured such that the transmission wire passes through the closed-loop of the sensor. The Hall Effect sensor senses the current traversing the transmission wire, and generates a signal indicative of that sensed current, which may be further provided back to the IGBT, or to additional power distribution system components.